Shooting on I-4 Closes Lanes For Hours

Saturday

Jun 29, 2013 at 5:21 PMJun 29, 2013 at 10:08 PM

A man was shot to death on Interstate 4 Saturday afternoon as he talked with 911 operators about a car that was following him.

BAY NEWS 9

TAMPA | A man was shot to death on Interstate 4 Saturday afternoon as he talked with 911 operators about a car that was following him.The shooting and ensuing investigation closed all eastbound lanes of I-4 at Interstate 75 for hours.Gunshots were fired from one car at another along I-4 just after 3 p.m., according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The lanes remained closed at 10 p.m.Authorities were first alerted to a problem when a man called 911 to say someone was following him. That call came just before 3 p.m., and the man said he was being followed near 50th Street and Columbus Drive by someone who pulled up next to him and flashed a gun.The caller said he was still being followed by a gray Ford Taurus when he pulled onto I-4 eastbound, deputies said. The caller said he had done nothing to cause someone to follow him. The man stayed on the phone with 911 dispatchers, and the dispatchers heard multiple gunshots, deputies said.The victim, who was driving a Ford Mustang, pulled over, and the Taurus left the area. The victim died at the scene.By late Saturday, officials had not released the identity of the man killed, except to say he was not from Hillsborough County. Sheriff's deputies and Florida Highway Patrol officials continued to investigate the scene late Saturday. They said witnesses did see someone in the Taurus fire multiple shots at the Mustang.Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said authorities are working hard to discover who the gunman was and why the shooting happened.